Fast opinions come and go. Here are the slow facts.

Capitalism Works.. Too Well

In a Socialist system, government controls companies and jobs. You succeed in a socialist system because of who you know and the politicians you pay. Socialism makes a few people rich, and those few folks can make large payoffs to their political masters. That concentrated wealth is the opposite of what socialism claims to offer, but you have to look at the results rather than the ideological claims. In much of the world you get extra pay because of what you can do for the local politician, rather than what you can do for the customer. You succeed in a socialist system because of what the government can do for you. That sounds appealing for many Americans these days. Companies succeed when they satisfy their political masters. Politicians call the corporate loans and kickbacks “investing in our future”.

That isn’t capitalism. The problem with capitalism.. is that it works. Capitalism makes most of us better off. We don’t ask permission to earn a living. We do it on our own as long as government stays small. That means we don’t owe a particular individual for our success. We don’t have to pay off the politician to keep our jobs.

Capitalism has made entire nations rich. Of course some people will exploit others under Capitalism. The virtue of a free market is that this exploitation is not enshrined in law. Employers look for better employees and employees look for better employers, unless we’ve destroyed all the employers. Exploitation stays small.

Until the government makes it illegal,you and I are free to move. We are not slaves to our employers. We can look for better work when we want to. That is how the system is supposed to work, if we can keep the government out of it. The biggest problem with capitalism is that the politicians get more graft from Socialism.

In Capitalism, companies fail when they don’t satisfy their customers. That may be a big problem for me if it is my company, but it isn’t a big problem for society. In socialism, companies fail when they don’t satisfy their politician or their politician’s political party looses power. Then the adjustment is ugly as lots of us loose our jobs.